Well that was quite a waste of time.
To be honest I wished they had focused on a full length feature of The Box and just forgotten about the other 3 stories. The Box was so mysterious and intriguing, I really didn't want it to end. The other 3 were tedious, and badly acted.
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bangel332229 July 2019
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vasiln19 February 2017Four short horror films, no linking narrative, although there is some decent Svankmajeresque stop-motion animation serving as transition:
A boy loses his appetite after getting a glimpse of something mysterious; a woman discovers her husband's corpse on the day of her daughter's birthday; four attractive young people discover an Ancient Evil (TM) in the wilderness; and a mother deals with the discovery that her nearly adult son is disturbingly violent and yet everybody worships the ground he walks on.
Production values tend to adequate-high, and effects are acceptable, but there are small issues with each section that leave the overall film feeling amateurish. They're generally small issues, and I expect the filmmakers to work them out for their next projects.
Narratives are disappointing, generally from the lack of resolution-- although inconsistent characterization and unimaginable motives plague the second, making it the weakest. I can enjoy unresolved horror shorts in general, but it doesn't work here, not with the way these films are implemented; there's too much dragging along at each end, suggesting a reveal that never materializes.
The first was my favorite, and I found it generally creepy, although, again, the resolution was handled poorly; there were also some instances of poor acting, and too much voice-over exposition.
The "theme" of XX is apparently that all four films were directed by women, but there's not really any significance to that. If the title wasn't so eager to let me know, I wouldn't have realized it, and it kind of feels like painting a handgun pink for marketing purposes, a little dubious. Still, it's not a big deal to me, just a title. But after knowing, a few things stand out: the inversion of stereotypes for the parents in the first film; the unwillingness to commit to any crazy-lady characterization in the second, even though that's the only thing that would give the story even a lick of sense; the self-important and overly long soliloquy in the final film. (The only thing that maybe stands out in the third is that none of the attractive young people decide to disrobe, as they do so often in similar films.)
I'd say that the first film is probably worth watching, but I wouldn't bother watching past that. Not worth paying money for. Still, there's no reason not to expect good things from the filmmakers in the future, as they find some better scripts and improve their techniques. -
danny-fr-mail25 February 2017Proposing a collection of original shorts in a horror landscape over-saturated with remakes and old recipes is a daring proposition, with or without gender twist. XX delivers four 20 minutes works with an episodic animated sequence as interlude. While the animated part is simply masterful, the quality of the shorts varies.
1st Short: The Box. This short seems to draw an illustration of how a dysfunctional family would end up if closeted drama and shouting exchanges were replaced by a supernatural element. Rather ambient, it lets you wonder what to expect. Unfortunately, the conclusion misses the target and leaves you wanting something more elaborate.
2nd Short: The Birthday party. Expedited premise and hardly believable character behavior make this short rather weak. It seems to be intended as a joke and it sort of, kind of work if you're a good audience. Good material for fan theory, but nothing memorable.
3rd Short: Don't fall. Typical monster story, with all the clichés of the genre packed into way too little time to deliver any kind of tension. A success if you want to watch absolutely every (bad) monster film in 20 minutes, a failure if you're looking for anything else.
4rh Short: Her only living son. The best of the lot, with a tense ambiance from early on, and the only one with enough background to establish a more solid story line. The female lead knows how to act, and the dramatic arc is built better than in the 3 other shorts. Nonetheless, some of the narrative is expedited and make the story fall a bit flat.
Ultimately, the bundle gives the impression that none of the stories were meant for the short format to begin with, and try to follow the same formula as full feature films while condensing it in 20 minutes. As a result most of the shorts rest on interesting ideas but none seems to know whether to be a trailer or a feature film, to the detriment of tension and narrative.
It remains that there are far worse movies around. "The box" and "Her only living son" have a compelling second level of reading and can push your empathy buttons just right, and "The Birthday Party" might make you smile ("Don't Fall", though is a total miss). Funnily enough the 20 minutes format, as ambiguous as it is, also makes sure that no story overstays its welcome.
I'll give it a 5 for effort and for the animation. Watch it if you want something a bit different, and for some good starting ideas if you're a fiction writer. Give it a rain check if you're looking for a mind-blowing work.
The good: Interesting ideas + Good metaphors + Refreshing formula + Masterful animated intermezzos
The meh: - Average acting - Narrative doesn't fit the format well - Soundtrack could be more subtle
The bad: - The whole 3rd short (Don't fall). - The mood lapse between the 1rst and 2nd short. -
jegd-847-63140719 February 2017I don't know where to begin with my thoughts on this anthology. I would more or less refer to them as proof of concept ideas that filmmakers give to production companies.
The first concept 'The Box' started creatively enough with the mystery of a boy seeing "something" in a box and then it went no where. This wasn't horror, it wasn't scary, and it came across like it was alluding to a message that I couldn't decipher. It does remain true to the Jack Ketchum short story of the same name, but it failed to capture the narrative style the book delivers. If they retold the story from the mother's POV I would add another star to my review, but she's a background character until the very end. Disappointing.
'The Birthday Party' would be better listed as a dark-comedy. I didn't like it at all. Don't know what else to say about it, but it was a waste of time. I wanted to find hidden meanings behind what was happening and I kept expecting something to relate with. It delivers nothing. This isn't even something to share over a campfire.
'Don't Fall' was a straight forward horror genre without any real content. It seemed to be making fun of such stories rather than trying to be plot or character driven. It was as derivative as most"monster chasing a girl" movies can be and just as lifeless. Terrible acting, no pacing and not even a claustrophobic element with the small camper. It's like the director didn't want the job or didn't bother trying.
'Her Only Living Son' was actually the closest to being watchable. It was this short that helped keep it above 1 star for me. The plot was ... conventional ... is a kind word. The acting was sub-par, but I did like Kyle Allen as Andy. I thought this could have been broader and more illusive about the surprise mystery. It's a clichéd tale (probably should say a throwback) from 1970's flicks based on devil-worship. I never liked those things. It's just people acting creepy or weird and I'm certain today's audiences are fully desensitized by their nightly news to give 2 cents about this garbage.
All in all; I wish I had paid attention to the warnings of other reviewers. Because the focus was on women directors, I didn't want any negative influence from misogyny or patriarchal leanings. I watched with all the hope in the world and it was very disappointing. -
Platypuschow11 February 2019XX is an independent horror anthology that got a bit more press than the average due to it notably being advertised as one written, directed and being lead entirely by the fairer sex.
I have to admit this did interest me, women do tend to lead most horror movies but written and directed by? My interest was peaked, and I do love horror anthology films.
Telling 4 short tales separated by creepy stop motion animation it was worse than I ever thought it could have been. You see it reminded me heavily of The ABC's of Death (2012) which was an anthology I'd expected huge things from and ended up being one of the worst films I've ever seen. The stories were pointless, disturbing (And not in a good way) and just downright confusing, and that's basically what we have here. The tales aren't exactly what you'd expect, they aren't traditional horror or even alternative horror for that matter. They are weird art house films for the most part which are neither interesting nor scary. One of them simply isn't horror at all and the first story was just, well the whole thing is just terrible.
The third story was passable, the rest range from bad to absolutely dire. The films all female gimmick isn't worth watching this for, it's truly poor stuff.
The Good:
Story separators are interesting
Melanie Lynskey
The Bad:
3/4 stories are just awful
1/4 isn't even horror -
armon226917 February 2017If you want to watch a ridiculous, boring movie where the short stories leave you hanging and never explain a damn thing this is the movie for you. Being that I cannot imagine anyone would want that I will say just stay far away from this terrible film. I watched the trailer, looked this movie up and saw that one of the directors did VHS and thought oh this could be great (the first two VHS movies I really enjoyed), well this had none of the same aspects I appreciated in those movies.
Just to sum it up if you didn't get the point already terrible, aggravating, and ridiculous movie that I wonder why anyone even thought they should make. -
ericrnolan3 March 2017I'm sorry to report that this year's "XX" doesn't quite live up to the great horror anthology that its trailer promises. This quarter of female-directed horror shorts is actually quite average, when considered together, and I'd give it a 6 out of 10.
Only the first segment is truly memorable — "The Box," adapted from a short story by Jack Ketchum. The directing and scoring is superb. (Seriously, the music is quite good.) The acting is also good throughout this segment, most especially by "The Strain's" Natalie Brown. She's a good actress and she's starting to grow on me. (And her memorable last lines here, which I assume come from the text of Ketchum's story, are weird and haunting.) This quarter of "XX" gets under your skin.
Despite "The Box" being capably developed and unnerving, however, there were no conventional scares at all. It hardly felt like a horror short; it was more like a particularly macabre and ambiguous parable. Nor is the story's mystery solved — it's left open-ended.
The second segment is largely a waste of time, despite being stylishly shot and scored. (Hint: it's got the same story device as "Weekend at Bernie's.")
The remaining two tales are more standard horror stories. I'd suggest they are somewhat fair at best.
I think I would recommend this only to the most well rounded horror fans who are in the mood for something different. And, even then, it might only be for the peculiar elements of "The Box." -
antoniokowatsch21 February 2017I don't judge people based on their gender so I really didn't care if this movie was directed by women or not. But I do care about cinematography and storytelling aspects and for that reason I have to cast a somewhat harsh judgment.
So, the movie consists of 4 equally long parts, each explores a different type of horror. There is no coherency between the stories, all of them are fully independent.
The first story was obviously the best one. I really liked it and would have liked a full feature movie about it. There was a lot of untapped potential there. Considering how the first scene ("The Box") established some sort of norm on which I started forming expectations. It suffices to say that what followed didn't quite live up to these expectations. The second story ("Birthday Party") was in fact the exact opposite. It wasn't scary, it was just weird. Since I don't want to spoil anything I'll just leave it at that. It was by far the weakest link in this anthology. "Don't Fall" was also pretty scary but a little too one-dimensional for my personal taste. There was virtually no character development in that story. And last but not least there was "Her Only Living Son". This story was clearly an homage to Rosemary's baby. And while Rosemary's Baby is in my opinion one of the greatest Horror movies ever made this story was rather comical in nature. The reason why this story didn't quite manage to instill fear and true horror can probably be attributed to the fact that the protagonists physical transformation/metamorphosis was just too stereotypical to be considered horrifying/scary. -
nogodnomasters29 July 2017This is 4 short stories told in 80 minutes.
The first two tales are different from other horror tales, while the second two are simply short versions of stories we have already seen. The stories were done well. If you need closure in a tale, this is not where you want to be.
Story 1- "The Box" is about a boy who looks into a box and loses his appetite and does not eat. The dining room table had food on it every night. I gained five pounds just watching it. Excellent.
Story 2- Is about a birthday party. A mother so obsessed with appearances goes to comical lengths to conceal her husband's recent passing.
Story 3- 2 couples in a remote area...the proverbial one suggested by a gas station attendant.
Story 4- A far too common genre about a mothers' love for her special son.
I also enjoyed the claymation doll between the tales.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity. -
When the very poster draws heavy focus to the fact that the shorts are directed by women, one assumes that you will finally be able to see film through a female lens. Those in the film industry are frequently excited by the prospect of having the stories and viewpoints of women shown as it opens up stories that previously have been masked. Female characters frequently are left underdeveloped and masked in the backgrounds of features. You can imagine my disappointment to read that tag line on the poster, just to find that 3 of the 4 shorts are as generic and soulless as the dregs of the horror industry.
The first 3 shorts are as uninspired, uninteresting and cliché as imaginable. 3 of the 4 stories feature white, middle-aged stay-at-home mothers, of which are the manifestation of what most people complain about when a female character is given minimal attention and effort from a male director.
The 1st and 3rd short offer absolutely nothing we haven't seen before, and the 2nd short isn't even remotely within the horror genre. The director of the 2nd short has somehow managed to convince herself that adding loud, eerie music to a regular scene creates a horror short.
The 2nd of the 4 shorts is vastly the worst, followed by the 3rd and then the 1st. The 4th short however is an interesting, if not still un-creative piece of horror. Whilst the 4th short feels reminiscent of films like The Babadook, it still manages to differentiate itself enough to warrant at least a 7/10.
Ultimately generic, uninspired and frustrating. The intermission, stop motion segments are the pinnacle of this feature. 3/10 -
CinemaClown7 March 2017XX is a horror anthology of four standalone shorts, each helmed by a female director, and each starring a female lead. Limited by fixed budget & runtime yet free creative reign provided over the content, the film still fails to deliver as a whole and is a collection of four initially promising but eventually disappointing tales, all stitched together by a useless stop-motion-animated segment.
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smart_squirrel21 February 2017To those who are into something original - go for it. It's really fresh, stylish and also rewarding for those who are into black humour. If you compare 'XX' to the main Hollywood horror produce (most of which is incredible rubbish these days) - you'll get what I mean by saying all of the aspects of this film are so welcome.
Non-standard format (seperate non-overlapping stories), unexpected interpretation of human emotions (as in 'The Birthday Party'), as well as emotional dysfunctions (The Box), followed by a fallback to more classic horror ('Don't Fall') - all have something interesting to offer.
Forget who the film is made by: essentially, it doesn't matter. Just enjoy something we, horror lovers, haven't seen for a while - a spark of imagination. -
coco-cheung5018 April 2017I've seen so many review saying the storyline is incoherent, no resolution, etc, etc... But honestly, its one of few decent horror movies of recent years. First and foremost, their anthologies. SO if you get the complete stories of all 4 segment then the movie would've lasted for 4 hours instead of 80 mins. So needless to say the storyline will a little confusing. Despite that, if you've seen Rosemary's baby or at least heard of the movie before, then you would've known the last segment (Her only living Son) is an alteration of Rosemary's baby. The son doesn't have "a dark side", he's Satan's child. Don't blame this movie for being obscure, when it's your ignorance. Also this movie have really good special effects, particularly for Don't Fall. The acting is also well performed. Each actress did a great job portraying the main characters. The animation all to the overall creepy and uneasiness of the entire movie. You can tell that they really put a lot of effort into the animation and did a great job.
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PUDDlN18 April 2017No, really. Someone tell us please. It HAS to be a joke.
It boggles the mind what can pass as cinema.
This film is worthy of every single review cliché statement imaginable: - Don't watch! - Skip! - Complete waste of time.- I want my money back.
- Worst movie ever! ... and any more you can think of.
I have no more words. This film was so bad I was left speechless. -
claudio_carvalho21 February 2017Directed by four different women, "XX" is divided in four sometimes promising but in the end deceptive segments:
(1) "The Box": Near Christmas, Susan Jacobs (Natalie Brown) is going home by subway with her son Danny (Peter DaCunha) and her daughter Jenny (Peyton Kennedy). There is a man (Michael Dyson) with a box and the nosy Danny asks what it is. The man opens the cover and Danny glances inside the box. From that moment on, Danny does not eat anymore. Six days later, his father Robert Jacobs (Jonathan Watton) takes him to the Dr. Weller (Ron Lea) that can not find reason for the loss of appetite. When Danny tells Jenny the content of the box, she also stops eating. Then they tell to Robert what Danny has seen and he stops eating too. What is the mystery of the box?
This intriguing tale has no conclusion and even the writer and director Jovanka Vuckovic probably does not know the content of the box.
(2) "The Birthday Party": On the day of her daughter's birthday, Mary (Melanie Lynskey) finds her husband dead in his office. She tries to hide the body since the guests for the birthday party will arrive soon. Will she succeed?
Maybe the intention of the director and writer St. Vincent would be to make a black comedy. However the result is a pointless and senseless annoying segment.
(3) "Don't Fall": Four friends go camping in the wilderness and they find horror in the place.
Written and directed by Roxanne Benjamin. "Don't Fall" is another terrible and forgettable segment where things happen without any explanation or character development.
(4) "Her Only Living Son": Cora (Christina Kirk) flees with her son Andy (Kyle Allen) from her husband and lives in a small town. Near the eighteenth birthday of Andy, his behavior changes and he discloses his dark side. What will Cora do?
Written and directed by Karyn Kusama, the dark "Her Only Living Son" is the best segment.
My vote is four. Title (Brazil): Not Available -
EscapeFromtheVille17 February 2017Is this some sort of community college art project? The last two stories could have been absolute masterpieces but I'll never know. The Box and the Birthday Party were such horrible pieces of trash that I stopped watching to come do this review. The idea that it matters what gender the creator is is insulting and horribly sexist. This must be a joke.
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lee-wilson17 February 2017I will point out a spoiler below although really there is nothing of much substance in the movie to spoil. These four short horror tales directed by women are mostly half thought out and unsatisfying. Some nice concepts that ultimately go nowhere, you sit waiting for a nice resolution or at least enough information to make sense of what you are watching then the story is over. I did enjoy The Box for its eerie atmosphere but was let down as it progressed. When it gets to the final story "Her only living son" it is a shock that it is a cohesive and enjoyable story with a proper ending - SPOILER - although obviously a different take on the exact story of Rosemary's Baby complete with the same name Andy for the devil's baby depicted here as a grown teenager and detail that the mother's husband sold her out to Satan worshippers to bear a child on order for him to become a famous actor. END SPOILER.
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P3n-E-W1s39 March 2017This is a wonderful concept four stories directed by four women - and in that respect, much kudos for the poster artwork, sexy Lip-Skull-Kiss.
I'll break this down into the four short films, but let me say that the Dark Fantasy, stop-motion, animation segue's that tie the stories together is superb and quite haunting, in its own right.
The Box -
Penned by Jack Ketchum is the best film of the four. Jovanka Vuckovic wrote the screenplay as well as directing the film. She does a good job of bringing a tenseness to the whole tale of a family going through a mysterious trauma after her son looks into an ambiguous present a stranger is holding, on his lap, on the subway train. From that moment on he stops eating.
Vuckovic did a good job of casting as all the actors and actresses in the story do a commendable job of portraying their characters, along with their feelings. Jonathon Watton is especially believable as the dad, Robert Jacobs, who is scared, angry, worried, and concerned for the safety and future of his son. Whereas his wife, Susan Jacobs, suitable portrayed by Natalie Brown, distances herself from the happenings and troubles in her family... until it's too late. Though one of best characterisations comes from Michael Dyson who is brilliant as the man on the train with the mysterious present; right from the moment he turns his head to look at the boy, you know this isn't going to end well. There's something dark and ominous about the man in the black fedora.
Liked this film a lot and though you never know what's in the box... I really don't want to find out.
The Box - 8/10
The Birthday Party -
This segment was written and directed by St. Vincent (AKA Annie Clark). For me, this is the weakest of the four stories and isn't even a horror story. What you have in this little story is a poor relative to "A Weekend At Bernie's", without the dark humour. A rich woman wakes up in her big house and is getting the place ready for her daughters birthday when she stumbles across the dead body of her husband, who she thought had been out all night. Instead of calling the police she decides to hide the body from their daughter and the nanny. What's worse is that if you didn't actually get the joke, Clark decides to literally spell it out to the audience in the way of a two-part chapter heading- this is when my heart sank even further. I won't even mention the characters except that a more unbelievable cast I have never seen.
The Birthday Party - 1/10
Don't Fall -
This is a strange title for the story as it has nothing to do with falling. What writer and director Roxanne Benjamin gives you is an action tale of possession. While out hiking, four friends come across a strange petroglyph on a rock. That evening one of their group goes missing... The bad thing about this story is there's no atmosphere, no feeling of terror or horror that something supernatural is occurring. There was plenty of instances within the story where Benjamin could have created tension but no she went for all out action. This was a waste of a story - it could have been so much more. The acting was average and the actresses who played Gretchen, Breeda Wool, made her too irritating.
Don't Fall - 5/10
Her Only Living Son -
Karyn Kusama is the writer and director of this bright tale of darkness. I liked the fact she tells most of this story about a boy's eighteenth birthday and his right-of-passage into more than just manhood out of the shadows of night and in the brightness daylight. This is a difficult thing to do as horror and tension lead itself to darker arenas. It's the strangeness of the characters and their actions, as well as some situations, that give the feeling something isn't quite right in this town. I would have liked a little more tension and oppressive feeling, given the ending and the reveal, but on the whole, Kusama does a good job. The characters are believable, I particularly liked the postman, Chet, portrayed well by Mike Doyle.
Her Only Living Son - 6.5/10
I would recommend this film for The Box and the segue, though only to die hard horror fans that can sit through the bad bits. -
All in the eyes of the beholder. Not exactly spine tingling; lackluster may be the right word. But good intentions to spotlight up and coming female directors like Roxanne Benjamin, Annie Clark, Jovanka Vuckovic and Karyn Kusama. Four short horror tales all featuring female leads tippy toeing into the darker side of the female imagination. My favorite segment is "The Birthday Party" starring the fetching Melanie Lynskey and featuring Lindsay Burdge. There is also "Her Only Living Son" featuring Christina Kirk and Lisa Renee Pitts. Another segment called "Don't Fall" stars Angela Trimbur and Breeda Wool. The opening tale is titled "The Box" and stars Natalie Brown and Peyton Kennedy. I don't want to imply this collection is meant to be horror for the intelligent; but let's say intended for a viewer with varied life experiences. Nothing really shocking here, but tapping individual whimsy of the darker kind.
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This isn't a blockbuster, but neither is it a boring load of cr*p that you should avoid (if you listen to some of the idiotic reviews on this). I deliberately haven't given any details about the plots, here, because I didn't want to spoil anything. I think it's best just to watch each of these four short horror stories and see how they unfold.
It's written and directed by women, sensible and serious-about-making-a-decent-offering kind of women who don't take the p*ss out of their audience. It has bad language and gore here and there, but this is a clean film that doesn't go for mad shocks or irrational character responses. The sexual allure of the characters in this film is kept within bounds, so there is no overt nudity, but they know how to tempt and tease a little.
Some things in here, story-wise, are left to the imagination, too, and that's no bad thing, either. The acting is very good, the scripts and the dialogue delivery are great with no cringe-inspiring directional issues, the special effects are good and as for any complaints about character development; these are shorts, so there is no time for that! You just have to use your common sense to get a handle on the characters. I've watched some films and I'm left thinking, "Well, that could have been over in twenty minutes if they cut out all the lingering and wishy-washy bs", so, for me, the character development was just how I like it.
I'll admit that I was put off by some of the negative reviews saying that the only good one was the first one, so I watched from the second to the fourth and then watched the first one last. It worked for me and I can recommend this sequence, although I didn't find any of them "bad".
Overall, I enjoyed watching this and I think these women did a great job. Very well done! -
dittle122511 May 2018I like to write reviews of movies I really love or really hate and I just finished watching this movie......so....here......we..................go.
the box: I've read other reviews where this was their favorite segment of the anthology and I cannot understand why, the story starts on the subway and a man carrying a red box sets next to a mom and her two kids, the boy ask to look into the box and after a while the man agrees, the boy looks inside the box and has an odd look on his face. The boy now refuses to eat, and soon he tells his sister what was in the box and she begins to also not eat, finally the boy tells his dad what was in the box and again the dad stops eating, soon the three of them starve to death and die and the last scenes is of the mother looking for the man with the red box on the subway....the story was not interesting and bored me to tears and for the live of me I still can't believe this was peoples favorite story. 0/10
the birthday party: This story isn't even horror or good, a mom finds her husband dead so she drags him around weekend at Bernie style until she finally puts him in a panda suit and places him at the table of her daughters birthday, which brings up another interesting question...why does she have a black daughter...and why did she dress her up as a klansman? Anyway, this story has to many questions, why does she want to hide her husbands death? why did she put her husband at the table where her daughter will find him? why did I keep watching this horrible movie, why didn't I use the fast forward button....to many questions. 0/10
the fall: This was the best story and the shortest, it's your standard monster/stalker story. a woman touches some paintings...turns into a monster...and kills her friends. this is the only segment worth watching. 3/10
her only living son: I'm going to save you some time, her son is the anti Christ, it's just another devils son story. it takes you about five minutes to figure out this plot point. 2/10
This stories are not interesting or worth your time, if you want an anthology movie I would suggest tales of Halloween, trick r treat, or the classic tales from the crypt. overall 2-10 -
I am impressed of the low rating of these 4 short films that comprise XX. I believe that rating sometimes mostly depends on the viewer's expectations.
XX (what a bad title) is a set of 4 short films. The films are indie in style and narrative so this is important to note before you watch them. If you love the prequel to the Texa's chainsaw massacre XX is NOT for you.
If you are always looking for something different in horror movies, a different way of telling a story or a different story all together XX IS for you.
I found "The Box," the first one of the short films to be most disturbing although "My Only Son" is an interesting reworking of a classic horror theme. -
tommo-5979028 June 2017I actually really enjoyed the film. I found the production, acting and dialogue to be pretty good. The stories, to be fair, where perhaps a little weak but that's my opinion. If you enjoy supernatural stuff - have a go - I really think this is a cut above some of the other offerings I have watched recently. Then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder....
The star is the stop-motion - worth the price of admission alone - utterly mesmerizing. I would give 10 out of 10 for this alone.
Regards. -
Orpheus_Unlimited19 April 2017Let me begin by saying I had such high hopes for this film.
I love Anthologies and I love horror. So this had to be a dream come true, right? Wrong. It was more like a nightmare. A really lame and boring one.
The movie consists of 4 short stories intertwined by an awesome abstract stop-motion animation. And let me tell you: the tiny pieces of it are wonderful. It's by far the best thing on this ill- conceived "horror" film. It has nothing to do with any of the stories though.
And since we're in the subject...the stories are just a bunch of hit-and-miss disconnected shorts ranging from the supernatural to the absurd. Well, OK...they're more like a miss-and-miss kind of deal.
Don't get me wrong. One of the stories (the first one) has A LOT of potential for greatness as a full featured film. The second and the fourth one are "alright" as little quirky tales (although unoriginal and poorly acted). The third one is just pure run-of-the-mill garbage.
The problem with all of them is that they're not good. At all.
They're boring, uninspiring and full (and I mean F-U-L-L) of clichés and plot holes. Oh, and NONE of the stories is scary. Not even a little bit. Even the first one, by far the best of them all, has enough problems to push true horror fans right into madness.
This movie not only asks you to suspend your disbelief. It asks for you to be lobotomized and shut every single functioning brain cell down.
There's simply no other way to "enjoy" it because at some points it's absolute nonsense.
The cinematography and editing are meh.
The FX are C-grade.
The acting goes from average to utterly awful.
The music & sound are OK. At best.
And the writing is amateurish and lazy.
The only redeeming quality in this almost empty movie is the very brief aforementioned stop-motion animation. Other than that...avoid this insulting atrocity at all costs. -
aallin2222 February 2017I was really interested in this movie when I heard that the directors have been given free creative rein within budget and time constraints, but all of the segments themselves will involve the horror genre but for me it was a disappointment in the end. The first story "The Box" was really mysterious and thrilling until I saw that the story have no conclusion. The second story was funny to me, I mean it was a dead guy in a panda costume at a children party. The third story "Don't Fall" friends go camping in the wilderness and everybody dies without any explanation of the horror story. The last story was interesting until in the end again no explanation at anything.